Radio Times Companion Poll Results

Tuesday, 16 November 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster

This week's edition of the Radio Times features the results of their recent companion poll; the list is compiled from over 3000 votes made online (see below).

Also, as well as the exclusive posters advertised previously, there is a new Companions Special available to order; the 164 glossy magazine contains a profile of over forty companions from 1963 to the present day, articles by "the companions in their own words", plus never-before-seen photographs and material from the Radio Times archive.

  1. Rose Tyler (Billie Piper)
  2. Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen)
  3. Donna Noble (Catherine Tate)
  4. K•9 (John Leeson/David Brierley)
  5. Amy Pond (Karen Gillan)
  6. Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)
  7. Ace (Sophie Aldred)
  8. Leela (Louise Jameson)
  9. Jo Grant (Katy Manning)
  10. Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney)
  11. Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman)
  12. Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines)
  13. Romana II (Lalla Ward)
  14. Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding)
  15. Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins)
  16. Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant)
  17. River Song (Alex Kingston)
  18. Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter)
  19. Polly (Anneke Wills)
  20. Turlough (Mark Strickson)

The Radio Times is out in the United Kingdom today, Tuesday 16th November.

The Companions volume can now be ordered online




FILTER: - Radio Times

Doctor Roundup

Monday, 15 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Matt Smith has been confirmed as a guest on the Tuesday edition of the CBS chat show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. On Twitter Ferguson said the show will be a Doctor Who Special complete with Daleks. The show is being recorded Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles for transmission at 12.35am (ET).

Smith will also be a guest on the Nerdist Podcast, hosted by the comedian Chris Hardwick. The podcast is free to download on iTunes.

Meanwhile Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston has been promoting his appearance in the BBC One drama series Accused. In an interview with the Scottish Daily Record, he criticised the desire for fame encouraged by programmes such as The X Factor.
These people are chasing fame for its own sake. That's vacuous. I've been famous and I can tell you there's nothing there. The only thing that's there is the work you do.
Eccleston was asked about his time on Doctor Who and why he left so soon.
The most important thing about Doctor Who isn't that I left but that I did it. Those 13 episodes were a real success and I'm proud of the work. I've never seen it since I left. I'm always out and about on a Saturday night. But I'm very proud of what we did with it. I wanted to do a children's character because all my work had been for adults.

However Eccleston was less willing to discuss Doctor Who when talking to The Daily Telegraph.
I’ve said everything I’m ever going to say about Doctor Who, I have no opinions on anything about it. There are too many opinions about that particular show – it’s just my past. I spoke about it a great deal at the time.




FILTER: - Matt Smith - Christopher Eccleston

Sarah Jane - The Empty Planet Ratings

Monday, 15 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The current series of The Sarah Jane Adventures continues to top ratings with the first part of story four, The Empty Planet, topping the chart and becoming the most watched programme ever on the digital Children's channel CBBC.

According to BARB, part one of the story had 0.99 million watching with part two getting 0.81 million viewers. The story just beat last weeks Death to the Doctor, which had 0.96 million viewers.

The Alien Files had 0.49 million watching.

The Empty Planet was repeated later in the week on BBC One and figures for these showings will be available later this month.

Final Ratings - Series Four
- -CBBC--BBC Two--BBC One--Total-
The Nightmare Man - 1 0.59m0.28m0.87m
The Nightmare Man - 2 0.67m0.38m1.05m
The Vault of Secrets - 1 0.73m0.43m1.16m
The Vault of Secrets - 2 0.61m0.49m1.10m
Death of the Doctor - 1 0.92m0.48m1.40m
Death of the Doctor - 2 0.96m0.47m1.43m
The Empty Planet - 1 0.99mTBCTBC
The Empty Planet - 2 0.81mTBCTBC





FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Sarah Jane

K9 Cinematographer wins Award

Monday, 15 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
K9: Tony O’LoughlanThe Director of Photography on the Australian K9 series, Tony O'Loughlan, has been awarded two Bronze awards at the 2010 Queensland and Northern Territory Cinematographer Awards held in Brisbane last Saturday.

The awards were for Episode 23, Angel of the North and Episode 26, The Eclipse of the Korven.

The series, created by Bob Baker and Paul Tams, was shown on the TEN network in Australia and in Europe on the Disney XD channel. The series is due to make its terrestrial début in the UK on Five this Christmas.

A second series is currently in pre-production.

Fans in London can meet the team behind the series at a special event at The Who Shop in Upton Park on Saturday 11th December. Bob Baker and Paul Tams will be signing exclusive merchandise from 1pm to 4pm.




FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - K9

Tennant stars in Manchester United drama

Sunday, 14 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
David TennantTenth Doctor David Tennant is to star in a new BBC drama based on the true story of Manchester United's legendary "Busby Babes", the youngest side ever to win the Football League.

United is a BBC Two film which portrays events set around the 1958 Munich Air Crash that claimed eight of the team's number number and the extraordinary spirit of a city that rebuilt the side in the wake of the disaster.

Tennant will play coach Jimmy Murphy, alongside Jack O'Connell (Skins, Dive) as Bobby Charlton, the youngest of the Babes, and Sam Claflin (Pirates Of The Caribbean, Any Human Heart) as star player Duncan Edwards. The film draws on first-hand interviews with the survivors and their families to tell the inspirational story of a team and community overcoming terrible tragedy.

The drama is written by Chris Chibnall, who wrote last year's two part Doctor Who story The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood as well as the 2007 story 42, and who has also written numerous episodes of Torchwood. It is directed by James Strong who has directed several episodes of Doctor Who and Torchwood.

Simon Heath, Executive Producer, World Productions, says:
Chris Chibnall has written an authentic and moving version of this heartbreaking story, which with the help of a great cast, we hope will be a fitting tribute to those who survived and those who lost their lives at Munich.

United starts filming later this month in and around the North East of England.




FILTER: - David Tennant

Doctor Who Experience Preview Tickets

Saturday, 13 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who ExperienceLimited numbers of preview tickets for The Doctor Who Experience, will go on sale next Monday 15th November at 9am GMT.

The new Doctor Who exhibition is set to open at London's Olympia on 20th February 2011.

Special preview days are planned for the 17th, 18th and 19th February 2011 allowing fans to experience the adventure before anyone else. In addition to being the first through the doors of the Doctor Who Experience, preview ticket holders will also receive special Doctor Who Experience limited edition merchandise created especially for these dates.

Tickets are only available from doctorwhoexperience.com/priority. They come in two versions, The Sonic Screwdriver (standard) ticket will include a special limited edition of the Doctor Who Experience souvenir brochure with a unique souvenir ticket while the TARDIS (enhanced) ticket will include all of the above, plus an exclusive preview edition laminate & lanyard set and a limited edition Doctor Who lithograph.




FILTER: - Exhibitions

The Finished Product - 6

Saturday, 13 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The sixth edition of The Finished Product is now available.

This issue looks at the relationship between Big Finish and Doctor Who Magazine, speaking to many of the people who have been involved over the years, including Gary Russell, Alan Barnes, Conrad Westmaas and Tom Spilsbury.

There is a feature on the DWM exclusives which haven't been covered by The Inside Story book, starting with The Veiled Leopard, including the thoughts of Sophie Aldred, and Cuddlesome, including a plot breakdown of the Audio Visuals original which many readers won't have heard, and then The Mists of Time and Freakshow.

The Companion Chronicles specials continue with The Three Companions, before the issue is rounded off with interviews on how Spare Parts was developed into The Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel, with exclusive interviews with Marc Platt, Gary Russell and Tom Macrae.

Email thefinishedproduct@hotmail.co.uk for more details.




FILTER: - Fan Productions

Christmas Special Title Revealed

Friday, 12 November 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The elusive title for the forthcoming Christmas Special has finally been revealed by the BBC, as the official Doctor Who website announces it as A Christmas Carol.

The title is perhaps unsurprising given comments made by Ben Stephenson (Controller BBC Drama Commissioning) back in July, when he revealed the story would be "Doctor Who's clever twist on the much loved A Christmas Carol"!

A preview for the episode is due to be shown on next Friday's Children in Need, and the official site has also reported that another Doctor Who-related item will feature on the show, featuring Matt Smith as "two young fans of Doctor Who have their dream come true..."




FILTER: - Specials

Delia Derbyshire Interview

Friday, 12 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Delia DerbyshireThe BBC is to screen a previously unbroadcast interview with the late Delia Derbyshire, the woman who realised the original Doctor Who title music.

On Monday 15 November, the West Midlands edition of BBC One's Inside Out will feature excerpts from an interview originally recorded in the late-Nineties by BBC Radio Scotland's John Cavanagh but never broadcast before. In the interview Derbyshire reveals that one of the primary influences on her music, including Doctor Who, were the abstract sounds she heard as a child during the Coventry blitz. The programme also features previously unseen footage of Derbyshire later in life at a Doctor Who fan convention.

BBC Radio 2 presenter Stuart Maconie looks at her career and explores why the woman herself remains a mystery despite her work influencing the world of electronic music, including Pink Floyd and today's modern dance acts. He begins his journey in war-torn Coventry, where Derbyshire grew up, and follows her journey to the Radiophonic Workshop at the BBC. He talks to a range of people, including the man who invented the sounds of the TARDIS, Brian Hodgson.

In 1963, hardly anyone outside of avant garde music circles and academia knew electronic music even existed. But, 47 years on, the Doctor Who theme is probably the most famous piece of electronic music in the world and Derbyshire's lost recordings, discovered in her attic after her death, are being lovingly restored by the University of Manchester.

Uncovered in this episode is the revelation that Derbyshire composed music for an astonishing number of landmark programmes of the day, with the original Doctor Who theme being just a small part of her massive output whose style was described in her own words.
Well, the first stage in the realisation of a piece of music is to construct the individual sounds that we are going to use. we can build up any sound we could possibly imagine almost. We spend quite a lot of time to invent new sounds, sounds that don't exist already, ones that can't be produced by musical instruments.

This programme will be broadcast on BBC One in the West Midlands, at 7.30pm on Monday 15 November.

Viewers in the UK outside the region can watch the programme on Freesat channel 963, Sky channel 979, or on the BBC iPlayer.




FILTER: - People - Music

Ultimate Regeneration

Friday, 12 November 2010 - Reported by Marcus
A new book telling the full story of the Russell T Davies era of Doctor Who in now available for pre-order.

Ultimate Regeneration is the first book from Kasterborous.com and the first to be released in the UK by writer and Editor of the site Christian Cawley. The book tells the real-time critical story of Doctor Who between the years 2005 and 2010.

Featuring essays, articles, reviews and interviews, the full story is put into context with a running commentary on the main events in Doctor Who news and fandom. It includes 60 Doctor Who reviews from Rose to The End of Time, Part Two, and over 30 articles including character, actor and writer profiles.

Upon release, Ultimate Regeneration will have a sale price of £14.99. However a special pre-order price of £9.99 (plus p&p) is currently available, saving 33% on the cover price.




FILTER: - Russell T Davies - Books